Filed under: Safety, Technology, Toyota



In recent years, Toyota vehicles have been involved in a number high-profile accidents blamed on "unintended acceleration." And whether the root cause of these incidents boils down to driver error or faulty mechanicals, Toyota is working to address the issue.

One of two new systems in development at Toyota goes by the name of Intelligent Clearance Sonar. The technology is meant to reduce parking lot collisions by detecting objects out of the driver's sight. If an imminent collision is detected, the ICS system will automatically hit the brakes, reduce engine power and sound an alarm.

Toyota's other new safety system is Drive-Start Control. According to the automaker, if the system senses that the wrong gear has been selected from Park while the driver is pressing on the accelerator, a warning is flashed on the dashboard and engine output is reduced "to limit a sudden start or acceleration." There are a number of scenarios where the system might kick in - for example, if a driver bumps into something while reversing, panics and shifts into a forward gear without letting up on the accelerator, DSC would take over.

While such research is commendable, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has called for making such systems mandatory in coming years. And more and more automakers are investigating and/or committing to developing electronic failsafes to deal with unintended acceleration. Last month, Nissan announced a camera-based system designed to curb pedal misapplication.

Toyota says the systems will be available on future vehicles soon, a development that could give it a leg up on the competition if/when new federal rules are approved. Check out the official press release below.
Continue reading Toyota introduces new technologies to curb unintended acceleration

Toyota introduces new technologies to curb unintended acceleration originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Permalink | Email this | Comments

Read More...